Press Releases
BtoBet: Coming Out Successfully From The Current Sportsbook Scenario

- Short-term mitigation plans could shape up a new industry on the long term
As the iGaming industry is adapting to the live sport events shortfall that has now taken the iGaming industry by storm, not everything is doom and gloom. Alessandro Fried, BtoBet’s Chief Executive Officer, discusses the interim measures that operators are adopting to mitigate the gap created in the sportsbook vertical, and how eventually the industry will morph into a more diverse scenario based on the decisions that operators are taking at the moment.
In what way will the current situation impact the industry?
Everyone is expecting live sport events to surely resume shortly. They will be back, and with them the sports betting vertical will pick up where it left and bounce back. At this point in time the Italian top league clubs are all set to resume their training in a couple of weeks, whilst in Germany teams have already resumed with their preparations to final sprint of the Bundesliga.
However, it is true that the industry has undoubtedly been impacted. No one has ever imagined a scenario where live sports on practically a global level would be made unavailable. The pandemic and its consequences, with governments and authorities alike putting in place extraordinary measures imposing social distancing in order to curb the outbreak, has disrupted mostly those bookmakers who throughout the years have based their business activities on a retail network. The same applies for the retail casino outlets, with Las Vegas as the primary example, literally closing down its doors for business.
It is with this in mind that I expect a major shift in operators’ strategies in the immediate to short term, with retail licensees seeking to migrate their business activities to the digital mediums, thus also mitigating for any future downturns in terms of retail customers.
Turnover from live sportsbetting is a major problem for most operators. However, have other verticals seen an increase in player engagement?
The current circumstances related to live sport events has had its major toll on those operators who have based their offering primarily on live football events, with the top leagues generating an ever increasing revenue stream as this form of gambling is nowadays being considered as an extension to the events themselves. Such are the number of followers that these events produce. However, the scenario has changed abruptly, and live sport events that on a daily basis averaged into hundreds of events have now been reduced to merely a handful. Live betting now comprises of football events in Belarus and Nicaragua, table tennis in Russia, and racing from the United States, Hong Kong and Australia. Which all in all amount to a rather limited content portfolio and will not make up for the loss of revenue that other major sport events generate.
Undoubtedly this translates directly to a significant loss in terms of turnover, with many industry experts expecting as much as 70% or even higher in terms of loss. On the other hand, and this needs to be highlighted, operators and suppliers alike have been agile in identifying new means of how to diversify the players’ engagement across a broader portfolio of verticals.
One of the major verticals that has seen a major bump on the immediate term has undoubtedly been virtual sports, which nowadays is accounting as much as 40% in terms of operators’ turnover. The same can be said with reference to the esports vertical and online casino vertical, with certain operators doubling their turnover in these verticals over a relatively short period of time.
How will the current situation impact the industry for the short term and the long term?
I reiterate that live sport events are resuming sooner rather than later. And I expect a high player engagement, if not actually higher, once the situation normalises itself. Does this mean that the industry will resume in its steps before the Covid-19 pandemic ensued? I highly doubt so. Even though there are few historical episodes which provide us with the required data as to how we will emerge from this situation, I expect the new more diversified content approach endorsed by the operators to stick also for the long term.
Operators are now seeing the opportunities that reside in other verticals. Since sport events have been cancelled, sportsbetting players have turned their focus to alternative betting products, be they virtual sports, esports, and online casino amongst other verticals.
In today’s context, I expect this “cross-selling” to other verticals to become even more determining as we go forward, because the current situation will surely have a lasting effect even on people in terms of their gambling behaviour.
I also expect retail operators to adopt a diversification of their business strategies and move towards the online channels. Does this mean that the brick and mortar experience will be a thing of the past? Certainly not. Retail betting shops and casinos still offer a betting and gambling experience in their own unique way. On the other hand I do envisage an expansion to the digital channels to complement the retail offer, with operators necessitating of a diversification of their revenue stream whilst also being better placed to retain their current fold of players, and acquire new customers through targeted marketing campaigns.
You have mentioned that operators are opting to “migrate” their players from sportsbook to other verticals.
Sports betting is an activity that nowadays is considered by the players as an enhancement to the real live action. One should also state that the vast majority of players bet on the teams, leagues, and different sports categories which they usually follow, and of which they have a good knowledge and understanding. There is an emotional attachment to sports betting, which in itself is driving operators to seek creative solutions in order to close the gap created by this “live sports void” for the short term.
Not only are they integrating new, innovative and alternative vertical content. They are going to great lengths to ensure a high level of player engagement even on the sportsbook itself, by exploring and expanding markets – such as the props market – that have until now played a rather minor role in the sportsbook vertical.
Most of our partners are realising the benefits that this expanded sportsbook content can have also in terms of retaining their fold of loyal players.
More importantly nowadays we are assisting operators pushing in their bid to create and develop new vertical markets. This is a further indication that eventually we are going to have a better, and stronger scenario, where sportsbook will still reign supreme, but strong gains will be registered in other verticals as operators will seek to diversify ever more their revenue stream.
How is BtoBet assisting its partners in mitigating the short term effects, and possibly putting in place a strategy for the longer term?
For the past months BtoBet has focused on boosting all its verticals in order to place all operators in the position to determine which strategy they want to undertake for their target players, whether they want to focus on sportsbook, online casino, lotteries, virtuals, e-sports and fantasy sports.
Nonetheless throughout these times we are still investing and pushing to provide bookmakers with the best range of alternative vertical content, whilst at the same time keeping focused on delivering a long term plan ensuring our partners will reap benefits by adapting a player-centric approach.
This is why we have put a strategy for the short term period assisting all our partners with the introduction of special content including:
- a daily selection of the most important horse-racing events,
- a new and engaging novelty bet section,
- extended E-Sports content,
- a boosted odds fantasy league,
- and a tennis game based on the outcome of more than 1 million matches.
We will also offer all our assistance to bookmakers and other operators in diversifying their business model by integrating a wider content for the Virtuals, with games from six leading industry providers natively integrated in the Btobet platform; an Online Casino portfolio consisting of an extensive list of over 8000 games from over 100 providers; and a wide selection of Lotteries, Instant Lotteries and Jackpots, with prizes up to €150 million.
Our past investments have also seen us launch a new retail solution, intended to not only boost the betting experience at the brick and mortar level, but also aptly enable operators to transform their non registered players into registered customers through a rapid registration process.
I am confident that the current sportsbook shortfall will be just a small blip in the radar for the majority of operators who optimise their business strategies, allowing them to reap major revenue increase opportunities from a wider verticals portfolio on the long term.
Latest News
ULTIM8 SPORTSBOOK IFRAME: Ultimate Solution for Operators Who Have Seen It All

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GR8 Tech launches ULTIM8 Sportsbook iFrameâan easy-to-launch solution designed specifically for the needs of experienced businesses: casino brands aiming to dominate sports betting without hiring an army of sportsbook specialists, or operators fed up with tech bottlenecks stunting their growth.
âWe dedicate a lot of time to talking to the market, and one thing kept coming up: too many products are built for entry-level needs. Thatâs fine⌠until it is not. Operators that grow beyond the basics often hit a wall. Their current platform needs improvement and differentiation that comes slowly, if at all; at the same time, switching to something new just means discovering another set of limitations down the line,â shares Yevhen Krazhan, CSO at GR8 Tech. âThere was clearly a gapâa well-formed demand for a solution tailored to mature operators who know what their players want and are done settling for tech that slows them down or boxes them in.â
ULTIM8 Sportsbook iFrame was created to tackle these advanced challenges, enabling operators to differentiate with market-leading content and a customizable front-end while maintaining full control over crucial areas like player engagement and risk management. Feature-rich right out of the box, the solution drives the ultimate revenue boost with its AI-driven toolset.
âULTIM8 is built for results. Operators using our iFrame solution see up to 50% GGR uplift through features that come ready to deployâodds personalization, parlay tools, and dynamic cashout,â comments Sergey Ghazaryan, CRO at GR8 Tech. âCoupled with the geo-tailored layouts and widget-based frontend flexibility, these things give operators the ability to shape the ultimate experience for their audiences, while keeping full control over performance and profitability.â
With all these advanced features, GR8 Techâs ULTIM8 Sportsbook iFrame still maintains one of the key decisive factors of all iFrame solutionsâquick launch time. As long as operators provide everything necessary for the launch from their end in time, the business can go live within just one week.
Sergey Ghazaryan adds: âGR8 Tech aims to become the first choice for operators looking for high-performance sportsbook-driven solutions. ULTIM8 Sportsbook iFrame is a very important step towards this goalâan ultimate showcase of our sportsbook expertise, packed in a convenient, easy-to-integrate form, tailored to the demands of the mature operators that have been unanswered up until now. Wellânot anymore.â
Contact GR8 Tech for an in-depth guide through the ultimate sportsbook solution.
The post ULTIM8 SPORTSBOOK IFRAME: Ultimate Solution for Operators Who Have Seen It All appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Latest News
BGaming Bakes Some Delicious Slot Fun with Sugar Mix

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Rapidly expanding content provider offers tasty treats and sugary thrills with the brand new Sugar Mix slot
Popular iGaming content provider BGaming is serving up a delectable treat with the launch of the brand new Sugar Mix slot.
Matching the ever-present demand for creative sweet-themed slot action, Sugar Mix invites players into a charming pastry shop where the shopkeeper guides them on a quest for big wins and exciting bonus action.
Sugar Mix immerses players in a colorful world of sugary delight, while an exciting Free Spins bonus round, complete with the dynamic Swap feature, keeps players on the edge of their seats for every spin. The game cooks up a tasty 4,000x maximum win, while the attractive 97.37% RTP is the icing on this delightful cake.
This flavorsome theme also lends itself perfectly to mobile gameplay, and the aesthetic will instantly resonate with players used to playing candy-colored mobile titles.
Players who want to sweeten the deal even further can treat themselves using the Buy Bonus feature, allowing them to trigger the Free Spins bonus with the Swap mechanic for 50x their stake.
Julia Alekseeva, CPO, said: âThe Sugar Mix concept was created by BGamers during last yearâs company Hackathon, with our development team diligently helping bring it to life.
Weâve poured a lot of creativity into crafting a world that is as delightful to look at as it is to play in. Weâre particularly excited about the Swap feature, which adds an extra layer of anticipation during the Free Spins round and helps elevate the Sugar Mix from similarly themed games.â
The post BGaming Bakes Some Delicious Slot Fun with Sugar Mix appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
AGS
AGS Appoints Arthur Rotziokos and Richard Orozco to Lead International Growth Efforts

AGS (NYSE: AGS), a leading supplier of high-performing slot, table, and interactive products and services to the global gaming industry, today announced two key appointments that will significantly strengthen its international operations. Arthur Rotziokos has been appointed as the Senior Director of Product Management â Asia-Pacific (APAC), and Richard Orozco has assumed the role of Senior Director of Product Management â International. Both report to Rob Ziems, AGSâ Chief Business and Legal Officer, who oversees international business.
âWith tremendous growth potential and plenty of greenfield in international markets, AGS is well-poised to seize new opportunities on the global stage. Both Arthur and Richard bring unparalleled expertise and a deep well of gaming industry experience that will be vital to AGSâ global expansion strategy. Their leadership will be instrumental as we accelerate our international reach and advance our product offerings in these key markets,â said Rob Ziems.
Arthur Rotziokos, based in Sydney, Australia, will lead AGSâ entry into the rapidly expanding APAC market. With over three decades of experience in the gaming industry, including his most recent role as Vice President of Research & Development at Light & Wonder, Rotziokos is well-positioned to drive AGSâ strategic expansion across the region. His career spans roles at leading companies such as Ainsworth Game Technology and IGT, where he developed strong industry relationships and pioneered game development initiatives that led to business growth in global markets.
Richard Orozco, an experienced leader in international product management, will oversee AGSâ global product strategies, focusing on regions such as Latin America and Europe. Orozco joins AGS with extensive experience in managing product portfolios across international markets, including his most recent role as Vice President of Product Strategy at Ainsworth Game Technology. In his new role, he will work to drive market performance, optimize product lifecycles, and strengthen AGSâ market share in key international territories.
With both Rotziokos and Orozco taking on pivotal roles, AGS is poised to build its brand and gain a foothold in key international markets, further enhancing its commitment to delivering cutting-edge gaming products and solutions to operators and players worldwide.
The post AGS Appoints Arthur Rotziokos and Richard Orozco to Lead International Growth Efforts appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
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